The field of the invention is generally that of care and maintenance of natural fingernails, and more specifically, to an improved process for preparing the outer surface of a commercial/domestic plastic artificial fingernail tip extension.
It is considered fashionable and enhancing to have long, well cared for fingernails. Long commercial/domestic plastic artificial fingernail tip extensions project beyond the tip of the natural finger nail. If regular natural fingernails are left to grow, the natural fingernail tip usually splits, cracks, or is broken and therefore longer commercial/domestic plastic artificial fingernail tip extensions are easier to care for and much better than natural fingernails. Various methods have been used to attach commercial/domestic plastic artificial fingernail tip extensions.
One method is called a "sculptured fingernail tip extension" process whereby a mask having a cut-out conforming to the length and shape of the desired fingernail extension is placed around the natural fingernail and a paste-like coating of material is applied, which hardens and forms an artificial fingernail extension conforming to the shape of the cut-out. The sculptured fingernail tip extension binds by adhesion to the tip of the natural fingernail.
Another method involves attaching a preformed commercial/domestic manufactured artificial fingernail tip extension to the surface of the natural fingernail with an adhesive substance and then blended to the natural fingernail to form a natural looking fingernail to achieve the desired length and shape and a smooth finish. Typically, a "wrap" material, which, for example, may be comprised of a thin layer of paper, fiberglass, linen or silk, is attached to the natural fingernail using an adhesive material after the artificial commercial/domestic plastic tip extension and natural fingernails are joined together. The wrap material is then filled into the surface of the fingernail to provide a more natural-looking, translucent fingernail and to strengthen the attachment of the natural and artificial commercial/domestic plastic tip extensions.
Other methods provide an adhesive as a filler which attaches the artificial commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extension to the natural fingernail. Artificial commercial/domestic fingernail tip extensions are made of ABS plastic and with a smooth oily shinny surface. This smooth shinny oily surface must be removed by the nail technician or general public, by hand, with a file, or emery board before acrylic or gels or other fillers can be applied to the commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extension. The present invention solves the problem of removing the smooth oily shinny factory finish of the commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extension by presently being removed by hand with a file or emery board and providing a rough scratchy surface which increases the speed of the commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extension applications.
Presently, most nail technicians and the general public prepare commercial/domestic plastic tip extensions by filing after applying to the natural fingernail. This filing is to roughen the commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extension and is often time consuming and not uniform culminating in weak spots in the overall structure when completed. This process can take up to a minute for each fingernail or 10 to 20 minutes for each customer. The present invention, eliminates this fingernail filing step in the technicians general public process by providing pre-roughened commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extensions that will not need to be filed. Many commercial/domestic vendors sell plastic or ABS artificial nail tip extensions, but all are of a smooth oily shinny finish type. The present invention is the first to discover that prefinished roughened commercial/domestic plastic fingernail tip extensions can increase productivity drastically, making the job easier for the nail technician general public, resulting in higher productivity and higher quality results when finished. Furthermore, during the roughing process the entire surface top, bottom, well area, and all sides are pre-roughened making the adhesion time to the natural nail tip quicker. This results in a stronger, longer lasting bond which is due to the roughening process. This also saves time and produces overall better results than the smooth oily commercial nail tip extensions. The smooth oily commercial nail tip extensions do not adhere well in very humid weather conditions.